In hockey-mad Calgary, backyard rinks more popular

Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald01.15.2013

Jackson Henderson, 4, and his dad, Rob, celebrate a goal on their backyard rink, which is complete with boards and lines. “As long as he (Jackson) keep enjoying it, I’ll keep building it,” says Henderson.

CALGARY - Standing in the middle of his Coventry Hills backyard on dark winter nights, water streaming from the garden hose in hand, Rob Henderson thinks about his childhood.

“I remember our neighbours had a homemade hockey rink every single year. It was huge, with wood boards. They would never let us little kids skate on it. We’d sit there staring at them, but they’d never let us play. We had to find a little pond down the street.”

Now, Henderson is part of a growing number of Calgarians joining our national narrative: Mothers and fathers spending countless hours on freezing days and nights flooding the grass so their rosy-cheeked offspring can skate from the moment they wake up until bedtime.

What was once a neighbourhood novelty is becoming commonplace in Calgary backyards. From their simplest do-it-yourself construction to elaborate commercial kits, the backyard rink craze is everywhere.

“There’s definitely been an increase in the number of people doing it, they’re going all out,” said Caroline Vatter from White Ice, a local commercial supplier for sporting arenas.

“These backyard guys are having a lot of fun with it. They want more tools and more ideas.”

With the hours of labour and TLC backyard rinks demand, it’s hard to tell who they’re really for. Or who’s having more fun — the kids or the parents.

Henderson admits devoting more than 10 hours in a single day in December, breaking only to enjoy his wife’s company Christmas party, and returning at midnight to flood his darkened backyard until 2 a.m.

Henderson has been creating a 15-foot-by-24-foot backyard hockey rink for the past three years. He says learning to make smooth layers of ice complete with blue lines came through trial and error.

“My biggest mistake was too much water too fast and not being patient. Your ice will crack if you rush it.”

Henderson now prevents his garden hose from freezing by storing it indoors (“It drives Deb crazy,” he says of his wife) and altered plumbing underneath the kitchen sink to attach the hose.

Framing begins in October with lumber that costs around $100, he says.

All of the planning and hard work has become a labour of love, he says.

He describes his son, Jackson, 5, as “a hockey nut.”

“When I told him the lockout was over he cried, he was so happy.”

“Not every kid has a pond close by if he wants to skate,” said Henderson. “I really enjoy it. It’s a pastime. As long as he keeps enjoying it, I’ll keep building it.”

“I was out there every night for three hours with the hose to make sure Lucy could skate this year,” said the father of two.

“I never got a chance to do this growing up, and I always wanted to.”

It doesn’t matter that Lucy, who is soon turning two years old, is too young to skate and sometimes cries when her safety helmet is being put on. Or that sister Violet is a newborn.

“Lucy can say skates, but she can’t stand up in them yet. Building this was for her and to get friends and family over.”

Weaver says he searched online and taught himself how to build his rink. He soon found the ground wasn’t level, but by packing snow and tending to the surface, he created a 16-foot-by-32-foot rink.

The rink is bringing everyone together, most memorably on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, complete with strings of colourful holiday lights.

“I wanted the opportunity for her and I to bond. In the summer we did swimming lessons. I think it’s important for a Canadian kid to learn to skate. It reminds me of being a kid and all the fun I had skating as a kid.”

Mom Claire Poole spent her childhood as a competitive figure skater, and credits her mother, Val, for creating a backyard rink for her and sister Emma.

“We grew up with one, and it was amazing,” she said. “Those are great memories.”

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